Strawberry plant named &#39;vaulter&#39;

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Vaulter’ (a.k.a. ‘109261’).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to, and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/355,575, filed Jun. 28, 2016, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Latin name of the genus and species: Fragaria x ananassa.

Varietal denomination: ‘Vaulter’ (a.k.a. ‘109261’).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Vaulter’ (a.k.a. ‘109261’). ‘Vaulter’ is a day neutral strawberry plant.

‘Vaulter’ (a.k.a. ‘109261’) is the result of a controlled-cross between a female parent cultivar designated ‘108171’ (unpatented, proprietary cultivar) and a male parent cultivar designated ‘108229’ (strawberry plant named ‘Flame’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,470) made by the Inventor and was first fruited in Watsonville, Calif. growing fields. Following selection and during testing, the plant was originally designated ‘109261’ and subsequently named ‘Vaulter’.

This new strawberry plant was asexually reproduced via runners (stolons) by the inventor at Watsonville, Calif. Asexual propagules from the original source have been tested in Watsonville growing fields and to a limited extent, grower fields in high elevation. The properties of this new strawberry plant were found to be transmissible by such asexual reproduction. This new strawberry plant is stable and reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a new and distinctive strawberry plant designated as ‘Vaulter’. This strawberry plant is primarily adapted to the climate and growing conditions of the central coast of California. This region provides the necessary temperatures required for it to produce a strong vigorous plant and to remain in fruit production from March through October. The nearby Pacific Ocean provides the needed humidity and moderate day temperatures and evening chilling to maintain fruit quality for the production months.

The following traits and photographs in combination distinguish strawberry plant ‘Vaulter’ from known strawberry varieties. In addition, this new strawberry plant was confirmed to be a unique strawberry germplasm when tested against the California Seed & Plant Lab, Inc. (Elverta, Calif.) database using Short Sequence Repeats (SSRs). Plants for the botanical measurements in the present application were grown as annuals. Any color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 1995 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used. The fruit produced by each new cultivar is attractive and of excellent quality.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying color photographs depict various characteristics of the cultivars as nearly true as possible to make color reproductions.

FIG. 1 shows fruits of ‘Vaulter’.

FIG. 2 shows sliced fruits of ‘Vaulter’.

FIG. 3 shows ‘Vaulter’ plants.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION ‘Vaulter’ (a.k.a. ‘109261’)

This invention relates to a new and distinctive day-neutral type strawberry cultivar designated as ‘Vaulter’. It is primarily adapted to the climate and growing conditions of the central coast of California. This region provides the necessary temperatures required for it to produce a strong vigorous plant and to remain in fruit production from March through October. The nearby Pacific Ocean provides the needed humidity and moderate day temperatures and evening chilling to maintain fruit quality for the production months.

The following traits in combination distinguish strawberry variety ‘Vaulter’ from the known strawberry varieties. Plants for the botanical measurements in the present application were grown as annuals. In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 1995 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.

The detailed botanical description in Table 1 was observed when the plants were 33 weeks after planting. The plants observed were grown in a plot located on a commercial strawberry farm, at 187 San Andreas Rd, Watsonville, Calif. The outdoor field without cover was a sandy loam on a polyethylene-film-covered-raised-bed. A grower standard 1.25 mil thickness of polyethylene film was used to cover raised bed. Each row was spaced 52 inches apart according to a grower standard.

‘Vaulter’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions, and the phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment. The following observations, measurements, and comparisons describe this plant as grown under normal conditions in Watsonville, Calif. unless otherwise noted.

TABLE 1 Vaulter CharType Characteristic Vaulter General Plant Habit annual Plant Growth Habit upright Plant Height  35 cm Plant Width  41 cm Plant Width-Crown 6.5 cm Density of foliage, vigor light Plant vigor moderate to high Leaf Terminal leaflet width (mm) 90 Terminal leaflet length (mm) 83 No. teeth/terminal leaflet: 20 Shape of the terminal leaflet base acute to obtuse Shape of terminal leaflet in cross-section concave Margin description of the terminal serrate Color of upper side of leaves 137A Color of lower side of leaves 139A Leaf blistering weak Leaf glossiness medium Limbs Petiole length (cm) 23 Petiole diameter (mm) 3.55 Petiole color 145B Petiolule length (mm) 20 Petiolule diameter (mm) 3.55 Attitude of hairs on petiole and pedicel upwards Stipule pubescence sparse Stipule length (cm) 3.1 Stipule size small to medium Stipule width (cm) 0.9 Stipule anthocyanin present Stipule color (color code) 145A Pedicel color (color code) 145A Peduncle length (cm) 24.5 Peduncle size medium to large Peduncle attitude erect Peduncle pubescence, attitude of hairs medium, upwards Inflorescence Inflorescence position relative to foliage above Flower arrangement of petals free to touching Petal length (cm) 1.2 Petal width (cm) 1.1 Petal number per flower 6 Upper Petal color 155C Lower Petal color 155C Calyx diameter (cm) 3.2 Corolla diameter (cm) 3.1 Sepal length (cm) 0.12 Sepal width (cm) 0.6 Time of flowering (50% of plants in bloom) March Shape of stigma capitate Color of stigma 15D Length of style (mm) 2 Color of style 4A Color of the ovary 145C Length of the stamens (mm) 4.5 Number of stamen 29 Anther color 20A Shape of anther dorsifixed Size of anther small Amount of pollen scarce to moderate Color of pollen 7D Color of filament 149D Length of filament (mm) 4 Number of flowers per truss 3 to 5 Stolon Stolon number 6 Stolon anthocyanin 183A Widest diameter of stolon 5.07 At leaf attachment (mm) Stolon color 145A Fruit Number of fruit per truss 3 to 4 Fruit length (cm) 5 Fruit width (cm) 4.5 Fruit skin color 44A Fruit flesh color excluding core 44A Fruit core length (cm) 4.2 Fruit core width (cm) 1.8 Fruit core color 41B Fruit weight (g) 30.5 Predominant fruit shape conic to globose conic Shape difference between primary & secondary fruits Similar shape Width of band without of achenes medium Fruit glossiness strong Position of achenes even to below surface Achene color 145A Achenes per fruit 252 Achene weight (g) 0.11 Position of calyx even to inserted level of adherence of calyx strong Color of calyx 137A Firmness of flesh medium to firm Evenness of flesh color nearly even Sweetness (brix) 7.5 pH 3.32 Yield (g per plant per season) 2658

When ‘Vaulter’ is compared to the proprietary female parent (108171), ‘Vaulter’ has a greater fruit yield than the female parent. The volumetric fruit shape of ‘Vaulter’ is a fuller figure than a long conic shaped fruit of the female parent.

When ‘Vaulter’ is compared to the proprietary male parent ‘Flame’ (U.S. Pat. No. 28,470), the fruit pulp of ‘Flame’ has a deep red color, while ‘Vaulter’ has a pale color. In terms of plant shape, ‘Vaulter’ is more upright than ‘Flame’.

When ‘Vaulter’ is compared to the check variety ‘Monterey’ (U.S. Pat. No. 19,767), the ratio of flower stem length compared to petiole length for ‘Vaulter’ is longer than that of ‘Monterey’. Consequently, ‘Vaulter’ flowers are placed above the leaf canopy further than ‘Monterey’ flowers. Also, the ripened fruits of ‘Vaulter’ hang down below the plant further than those of ‘Monterey’ on the raised bed. ‘Vaulter’ leaves are thinner than ‘Monterey’ leaves in terms of leaf thickness. In terms of fruit hardness, ‘Vaulter’ fruits are softer than ‘Monterey’ fruits. ‘Vaulter’ has more open space between the leaves than ‘Monterey’. That is, the foliage of ‘Vaulter’ is less dense than that of ‘Monterey’. Furthermore, ‘Vaulter’ differs from ‘Monterey’ as ‘Vaulter’ does not produce stolons during the fruiting season.

TABLE 2 Comparison of fruit features of 'Vaulter' with the proprietary male and female parents FRUIT FRUIT FRUIT RATIO HYBRID HYBRID WIDTH HEIGHT (Height/ FRUIT HARDNESS Yield ID NAME (mm) (mm) Width) SHAPE* (newtons) (g/clone) 108171 Female Parent 40.13 46.90 1.17 7 6.80 688 108229 Male Parent 40.46 45.86 1.13 6 7.79 1196 (Flame) 109261 Vaulter 41.32 45.37 1.10 6 7.32 744 *Fruit shape: 1. Oblate; 2. Globose; 3. Fan Lobes; 4. Necked; 5. Short wedge; 6. Symmetric conic; 7. Conic; 8.Long conic; 9. Long wedge

TABLE 3 Comparison of fruit features between 'Vaulter' and the check variety FRUIT FRUIT FRUIT RATIO HYBRID HYBRID WIDTH HEIGHT (Height/ FRUIT HARDNESS Yield ID NAME (mm) (mm) Width) SHAPE* (newtons) (g/clone) Check Monterey 43.70 48.33 1.11 6 9.04 840 Variety (US PP19767) 109261 Vaulter 41.32 45.37 1.10 6 7.32 744 *Fruit shape: 1. Oblate; 2. Globose; 3. Fan Lobes; 4. Necked; 5. Short wedge; 6. Symmetric conic; 7. Conic; 8. Long conic; 9. Long wedge 

1. A new and distinct cultivar of strawberry plant named ‘Vaulter’ substantially as shown and described herein. 